Strong boots stomp the tarmac and stop right next to Geoff and me. Wet leather and sheep muck leap up my nose. There’s a strange hand in my fur, big-fingered. I lick the palm – urgh, tastes of engine oil. And the voice that belongs to the hand shouts over the beast in the sky: Read more […]

A well-aimed kick winds her; gasping, she bends double. Late afternoon, deep-dark February, and on the snaking branches of the common limes outside, snow sits tight, a vanilla crust ready to drop. She knows it won’t fall. There’s not a breath of winter wind. The air, it’s freezing. Another, insistent kick, a dense heel to Read more […]

The rich always die last, the old man croaked. His voice whipped away, swept across the white scoured snow-surface of the plain. Friend leaned forward trying to catch the tail end of his words. The man’s eyes were black, yellowing skin around them, red patches on his cheeks. Piss-holes in the snow, Friend thought. And Read more […]

Three men asked me to marry them. I said yes to them all. Vernon March whisked me to the altar in the month which matched his name. His courtship had soothed me like a breeze, flattered me into a flutter. I wore a green gown with a wreathe of violets and primroses. They wilted nearly Read more […]

I’ve never understood the allure of New Year’s Eve. I mean, what makes that one night so much more special than the other 364 nights of the year? And am I really supposed to believe that the mere act of counting down to midnight is enough to negate all the injustices and humiliations of the Read more […]

Katherine Pringle grew up in Northern Ireland, but left at eighteen to study Graphic Design in London. She fell into publishing without really planning to, but it turned out to be the ideal career for her: she loves working with books and is happiest when she’s surrounded by shelves and shelves of them – the Read more […]

Judith Wilson is a published author and magazine journalist. She writes short stories and flash fiction, and is at work on a new historical novel. She lives in London, but is often inspired to write about Liverpool and its environs, where she grew up. She has also written fourteen non-fiction books on interiors and design. Read more […]

Brindley Hallam Dennis lives on the edge of England and writes short stories, many of which have been broadcast, published and performed. Some have won prizes. He writes to be read aloud, but is uncomfortable with the ‘p’ word. He began writing at school in the 1960s. Took a fifteen-year break (writer’s block), and circa Read more […]

Margaret Crompton has a BA in English Literature and a diploma in Social Sciences. She has worked as a Social Work Practitioner and a University Lecturer in Social Work. She has also taught English as a Foreign Language in Poland. Fortunately, writing poems and stories was encouraged at home and school. From 1974 Margaret has Read more […]

Lori Cramer writes stories of various lengths, from Twitter fiction to novels. Her short prose has appeared in Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine, Riggwelter, Fictive Dream, Unbroken Journal and Whale Road Review, among others. A baseball fan, she includes at least one baseball reference in each of her stories. Embers, her first published piece, Read more […]